The village bells rang without rhythm.
Not to celebrate.
Not to gather.
Only to warn.
The beast horde had already broken through the eastern gate.
Homes burned.
Livestock scattered.
People ran with nowhere to run.
---
Elsa stood alone at the entrance of the village.
The black hood covered most of her face.
Only the tip of a small black horn peeked from beneath it.
Golden eyes reflected the sea of monsters charging toward her.
Hundreds.
Then thousands.
---
Behind her—
An old woman clutched two children.
A mother shielded her infant.
A young boy held a wooden sword with trembling hands.
No soldiers had arrived yet.
Only her.
---
The beasts roared together.
The earth shook beneath their charge.
---
Elsa closed her eyes.
A familiar voice echoed in her heart.
*"Remember, Elsa..."*
*"Strength isn't measured by how many enemies you defeat."*
*"It's measured by how many people can smile because you were there."*
---
"...I remember, Father."
She whispered.
---
She opened her eyes.
Golden flames erupted around her.
Not wild.
Not destructive.
Controlled.
Like a warm sunrise.
---
Then—
She disappeared.
---
The first beast never saw her move.
Its head separated from its body before it realized she had reached it.
---
The second tried to bite.
A single punch shattered its skull.
---
The third leaped from above.
Elsa caught it by the jaw and slammed it into the ground hard enough to leave a crater.
---
The villagers could only stare.
---
She wasn't fighting beautifully.
She was fighting efficiently.
Every movement existed for one purpose.
To stop the beasts before they reached the people behind her.
---
Blood stained her clothes.
Not her own.
---
More beasts came.
Hundreds.
Without fear.
Without hesitation.
---
Elsa exhaled.
The flames around her spread into countless thin ribbons.
They danced through the battlefield like flowing silk.
Each ribbon wrapped around a beast.
Each beast disappeared into ash.
---
The air became silent.
For a single heartbeat.
---
Then—
The ground exploded.
---
A colossal beast burst from beneath the village square.
Twice the height of the houses.
Six crimson eyes.
Black scales harder than steel.
Its roar shattered every remaining window.
---
Children screamed.
---
Elsa looked up.
---
"...You're the leader."
---
The monster answered with another roar.
---
It swung one enormous claw toward the villagers.
Ignoring Elsa completely.
---
"No."
---
Elsa vanished again.
---
She appeared beneath the claw.
Raised one hand.
---
The enormous claw stopped.
---
Everyone froze.
---
A single girl...
Had stopped something weighing dozens of tons.
---
The ground beneath her feet cracked.
Her arm trembled.
Not from weakness.
From the sheer force.
---
Then—
She pushed upward.
---
The giant beast lost its balance.
Its own momentum carried it backward.
---
It crashed through three buildings before rolling to a stop.
---
Silence.
---
Even the horde stopped moving.
---
For the first time...
The monsters hesitated.
---
The giant stood again.
Angrier.
Smarter.
---
It looked at Elsa.
Then...
It looked past her.
Toward the villagers.
---
Elsa understood immediately.
---
It wasn't trying to defeat her.
---
It was trying to make her choose.
---
Save one side...
Lose the other.
---
The giant split the battlefield.
Smaller beasts rushed toward the northern homes.
Others charged toward the southern fields.
The giant itself attacked the center.
---
Three directions.
One defender.
---
The villagers panicked.
---
"She's only one person!"
---
Elsa clenched her fists.
---
She couldn't reach all three.
Not in time.
---
Then—
Arrows flew from the rooftops.
---
The first wave of soldiers had arrived.
---
The young knight from the forest led them.
---
"Protect the civilians!"
---
Behind him—
Dozens more soldiers poured into the village.
Not because of orders.
Because they chose to follow her.
---
Jack landed beside Elsa.
Sword already drawn.
---
"You take the giant."
---
Rowan smashed a beast aside with a laugh.
---
"We'll handle the rest."
---
The spear warrior planted his spear into the ground.
---
"No beast reaches a single child."
---
Elsa looked around.
The people who had come to kill her...
Were now fighting beside her.
---
Her eyes became moist.
---
Edward...
---
It happened.
---
The world...
Can change.
---
She smiled.
A genuine smile.
---
Then her flames erupted brighter than ever before.
---
She faced the giant beast alone.
---
"Come."
---
The beast roared.
The village shook.
---
For the first time in its life...
The monster charged not toward prey...
But toward someone who refused to move.
---
Far away—
Inside the capital—
The ministers received a report.
---
*"The dragon-blood is protecting the eastern villages."*
---
The council chamber fell silent.
---
One noble scoffed.
---
"Good."
---
Everyone looked at him.
---
He smiled coldly.
---
"Then let her exhaust herself."
---
Another unfolded a second sealed document.
---
"It has already begun."
---
The royal seal glimmered beneath the candlelight.
---
**Operation Black Dawn.**
---
Not against the beasts.
---
Against Elsa.
---
Even while she was risking her life to save the kingdom.